by Heather Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

by Heather Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

Jeremy Clements says his indefinite suspension came for a racial remark he used in the company of two other people.

Clements was asked: "Was it racial or not? Maybe not in context, but in term?" by ESPN on Thursday.

He replied: "Correct."

"When you say 'racial' remark, it wasn't used to describe anybody or anything," Clements told ESPN. "So that's all I'm going to say to that. And it really wasn't. I was describing racing, and the word I used was incorrect and I shouldn't have said it. It shouldn't be used at all."

Clements went on to say the remark was not recorded, but was said offhand as he was showing a NASCAR official and MTV reporter the way to fellow Nationwide driver Johanna Long's hauler after the drivers' meeting before Saturday's race.

According to Clements, he will miss at least two races. He violated Sections 7-5 (NASCAR's Code of Conduct) and 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing).

However, NASCAR will have him complete sensitivity training before he can be considered for reinstatement.

No timetable for that or further details were available.

Since the remark was not recorded, some may wonder how it was revealed.

According to Clements, he got a call from NASCAR asking if he had used the word, and he said "Yes, I did."

He told ESPN: "Because I was an honest person," he said. "There was just three people standing there when I said this. And it was me, a girl that works for NASCAR and the MTV guy. There was no cameras. No recording. No nothing."

He said he had voice mails from NASCAR when he returned from church Sunday night and thought, "This isn't good."

Clements finished 33rd in the Nationwide race at Daytona International Speedway that was marred by a horrific last-lap crash that left 28 fans injured Saturday.

When the suspension was announced in a NASCAR release Wednesday night, the sanctioning body had no further details.

"During the course of an interview, Jeremy Clements made an intolerable and insensitive remark," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations in a release when the punishment was announced. "NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that's explicitly spelled out in the 2013 NASCAR Rule Book. We fully expect our entire industry to adhere to that Code."

Clements, 28, has three top-10s on the circuit he has been racing off and on since 2003. He issued this statement on his Facebook page Wednesday night:

"I apologize and regret what I said to the NASCAR writer and to NASCAR, my sponsors, my fans, and my team. NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that everyone must follow and I unintentionally violated that code. I will not get into specifics of what I said but my comment to the writer was in no way meant to be disrespectful or insensitive to anyone or to be detrimental to NASCAR or the NASCAR Nationwide Series. I will do what I need to do in order to atone for my error in judgment."